Patients and caregivers are increasingly speaking out online and suggesting ways to make things better. We are listening.

We are a non-profit, independent, innovation think-tank based at Massey College, in Toronto, Canada.

We explore the Web’s real time ‘chatter’, discover trends, design tools and create change in healthcare.

Our work increasingly focuses on Web analytics and inventions to improve mental health.

We are diverse group of citizens pushing towards more participation in healthcare, transparency, openness, and accountability.

We launched January 29, 2009 and have been fortunate to get some attention from industry, the social sector, media and patient advocates.

The Cell is expanding. Learn more know you can to be part of the Cell's global vision.

Our office is in Toronto, Canada and you can also find us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Skype, phone or email

We work with risk-takers around the world.

The term “Innovation Cell” was apparently developed by Hella, a German auto parts supplier, which convinced BMW to apply it. They used a development team concept called Innovation Cell which has the potential to create break-through innovations consistently. Below is the original explanation that inspired the way we work. [1]

— An Innovation Cell (IC) is a specific form of project organization. It consists of a team of volunteers who are dedicated, have full control over the project, and who will disband once the project is over. ICs are particularly suited to innovations and projects with high risks. They have proven themselves in the complex environment of the automotive industry. ICs are often used for the early stages of development, where the gap between idea and product is greatest. Such is the case when the technology is known but the product is not, or a customer is interested in a new product or feature but the feasibility is not yet proven. With ICs you can turn previously unattainable market opportunities to your advantage, such as when you feel there is a new market opportunity but you don’t quite know which product would allow you to grasp it, or when your competitor is about to come out with a new product and you need to follow quickly. ICs provide these possibilities because of five characteristics, which if applied with rigor guarantee success: autonomy, dedication, co-location, goal orientation, and transience. Dedication and goal-orientation are nothing new and can be found in any good project team. The other three deserve some explanation. Autonomy provides the IC with independence from its originating organization. The details of a particular innovation cell’s autonomy are negotiated in its foundation phase. The result of these negotiations is respected by everyone involved for the duration of the cell. This is a tough request, because of the tendency to withdraw key people from such teams in crisis situations or to interfere when things are perceived as too slow, un-orderly or non-predictable. But creative work is exactly that at certain times. Autonomy shields the team from impatient managers outside the team. But this freedom has a price: a high degree of self-organization and reliability of all team members.

We embrace risk and have tolerance for failure.

We believe in courage and humility.

We embrace randomness.

We are about rapid imperfect prototyping on lean resources and about agile explorations that are meaningful to patients and to people around the world.

Our ethos is to be aggressively constructive.

We believe in thinkering, simplicity, transparency of information, and elegant design and organization of all information.

When we say ‘participatory,’ ‘diversity’ and ‘collaboration’, we mean it.

We enbrace bottom-up innovation.

Fun, good nutrition and balance in life, are intrinsic values for Cell members and adjuncts.

Become the globally recognized leader in listening to online patient conversations and analyzing patient health experiences.

Seed and cultivate 2-3 creative, game-changing projects: These projects must be globally distinctive, and demonstrably provide value to patients in Canada, and around the world – value is determined by high Return On Investment (ROI) and better than best-in-class, or whole-scale disintermediation of the status quo.